2020's Bellevue vs Cambridge

[mhays25]

I wouldn't call Cambridge a suburb. It's a section of core Boston that's under different management.

[atadytic19]

Maybe a better comparison for Bellevue would be Sandy Springs or Irving. I would say Tysons or The Woodlands but those are not quite cities.

Anyway, I chose Cambridge

[mhays25]

From a downtown perspective, Bellevue seems closest to:
--Buckhead
--Clayton
--Century City

[MrDee12345]

I would take Cambridge any day of the week over Bellevue - I just can't afford it.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

Maybe a better comparison for Bellevue would be Sandy Springs or Irving. I would say Tysons or The Woodlands but those are not quite cities.

Anyway, I chose Cambridge

Bellevue is far more walkable than Irving, the Woodlands and Tyson's. Haven't been to Sandy Springs but I would assume Bellevue trumps it as well. Everything you need within a 1 mile radius. Bellevue is very remarkable, calm, clean, safe (except when political unrest happens). But very expensive.

[mwj119]

If I had a family, I'd probably choose Bellevue unless I could afford a SFH in West Cambridge. But those homes are typically between $4M - $15M.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3724...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3801...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3778...7i16384!8i8192

Otherwise, I don't really see a single quality aside from orderliness that Bellevue has over Cambridge.

Cambridge is just a far more interesting, walkable, urban, historic city. One of my favorite places in the US.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by mwj119

If I had a family, I'd probably choose Bellevue unless I could afford a SFH in West Cambridge. But those homes are typically between $4M - $15M.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3724...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3801...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3778...7i16384!8i8192

Otherwise, I don't really see a single quality aside from orderliness that Bellevue has over Cambridge.

Cambridge is just a far more interesting, walkable, urban, historic city. One of my favorite places in the US.

I'd be completely happy with one of the ca. 1880 singles in Mid-Cambridge like these on Bigelow Street. They built quite a few of these side-by-side doubles in Cambridge in the nineteenth century. I like them better than the up-and-down two and three family house which they built in the thousands around Boston for middle class people who could live there and rent a unit or two to defray the cost. Maybe the side-by-sides were similar--i.e., you bought the whole building, lived on one side and rented out the other? Now they're all separate properties.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by missionhill

I'd be completely happy with one of the ca. 1880 singles in Mid-Cambridge like these on Bigelow Street. They built quite a few of these side-by-side doubles in Cambridge in the nineteenth century. I like them better than the up-and-down two and three family house which they built in the thousands around Boston for middle class people who could live there and rent a unit or two to defray the cost. Maybe the side-by-sides were similar--i.e., you bought the whole building, lived on one side and rented out the other? Now they're all separate properties.

I'd love to live anywhere in Cambridge these days.

The caveat was family, though. Having grown up in a suburb, Bellevue would be a bit more comfortable to raise a family for me. Bellevue is very much suburbia, with it's SFH neighborhoods resembling a more modest 95 town like Natick.

[Guineas]

Cambridge if I could afford a SFH there ($3M+).

Sharing walls or ceilings in rickety 100+ year old wood houses like those in Cambridge is absolute hell though. You can hear your neighbor flush the toilet.